Youth leading the way for Huskies

Youth is not usually seen as a positive on the football field. Young players make mistakes, lose focus, miss assignments, get beat by better athletes.

Chris Polk is one of a number of freshman players leading the Huskies this year. (Getty Images/Jed Jacobsohn)

The 2009 version of the Washington Huskies is proving be the exception to that rule.

Just five games into the Steve Sarkisian era, the Dawgs are playing an unusually high number of freshman, both true and of the redshirt variety. And those young players who are getting the chance to play are proving their worth.

The Huskies leading receiver is true freshman James Johnson. The leading rusher is red-shirt freshman Chris Polk. Starting cornerback Desmond Trufant, the now-injured starting safety Justin Glenn, and a slew of backups receiving significant playing time are all freshman.

With Glenn done for the season and Nate Williams slowed by a concussion, the Dawgs are also looking at a pair of freshman to help shore the safety position, giving Nate Fellner and Adam Long extended looks in practice.

It would seem that starting and playing so many freshman indicates a team looking to build for the future, without regard to the current season. But Sarkisian and defensive coordinator Nick Holt are making it clear that the goal is to win now, not later. Building to the future is nice, but not at the expense of winning now.

And that philosophy seems to be confirmed in the results. Perhaps the only thing more impressive than a high number of freshman winning starting jobs is the level at which they are playing. Polk had a breakthrough performance against Notre Dame, Trufant quickly quieted any criticisms of his abilities, and Johnson has quickly emerged as one of Jake Locker’s favorite — and most trusted — targets.

There is, of course, a learning curve associated with playing so much at such an early age. However talented a freshman may be, he is usually lining up against players with more experience and more size, which can present matchup issues for the coaching staff.

“We’ve got a lot of freshman out there playing,” Holt said. “So it’s been a unique challenge the whole year.”

The challenges will most likely keep coming all year. But for right now, the Huskies youth is leading the way. And that doesn’t seem like such a bad thing.